A MAN who has campaigned and worked towards better fire safety for more than 20 years has been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Jonathan O'Neill, from Harvington near Evesham, says he is pleased to have been awarded an OBE, being honoured by Her Majesty the Queen for services to fire safety.

The 53-year-old, who became managing director of the Fire Protection Association (FPA) in 1999, sits on numerous government and ministerial advisory bodies including the Business and Community Safety Board, the Arson Control Forum, the Integrated Risk Management Advisory Board and the Operational Guidance Strategy Board.

The FPA is the UK's national fire safety organisation and works to identify and draw attention to the dangers of fire.

Mr O'Neill said: "I received a letter from the cabinet office four weeks ago, and didn't tell anybody apart from my wife.

"I am very humbled, it is a recognition of all of FPA's work to keep people safe."

Mr O'Neill said he was receiving the award at a sad time, with fire safety is in the spotlight after the tragedy at Grenfell tower in London, which saw more than 30 killed.

"It has to be a wake up call," Mr O'Neill said.

"We have been campaigning for years - we hope this will lead to the best fire safety regulations in Europe."

Mr O'Neill also pointed to the recent ArrowXL warehouse fire in Worcester as evidence the UK is currently "massively behind" on fire safety in comparison with the rest of the world.

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